The Chicago Bulls secured an eighth NBA win in a row by defeating the Orlando Magic 102-98 but Stephen Curry had an off night as his Golden State Warriors side beat the Miami Heat 115-108.
Trae Young scored a career-high 56 points in the Atlanta Hawks’ 136-131 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.
Ja Morant scored 36 points as the Memphis Grizzlies beat the Brooklyn Nets 118-104.
And the Detroit Pistons stunned champions the Milwaukee Bucks 115-106.
Jordan Poole came off the bench to score 32 points for the Warriors, recording five assists with two rebounds in just 26 minutes.
But it was a less successful night for Curry – the NBA’s reigning scoring champion – who had to settle for a season-low tally of nine points.
A Covid-ravaged Heat side, missing 10 players, looked to the scoring of Jimmy Butler – but after he grabbed 22 points, he was forced off with an ankle injury as his team suffered a second successive defeat.
Elsewhere, point guard Young was in excellent form for the Hawks. The 23-year-old hit seven three pointers and found the basket with all 15 of his attempts from the free throw line but it wasn’t enough against a Portland side for whom Anfernee Simons took 43 points.
Norman Powell, Jusuf Nurkic and Nassir Little all added more than 20 points to earn victory for the Trail Blazers, who now have 14 wins and 22 defeats for the season.
In their match against Orlando, the Bulls were inspired by DeMar DeRozan, with 29 points, and Zach LaVine, who scored 27, but struggled to shake off opponents who consistently hit back to cut their lead.
Morant becomes the first player in franchise history to score 30 points or more in four straight matches as he inspired the Grizzlies to victory over the Nets, their fifth in a row.
Meanwhile, Saddiq Bey scored a career high 34 as the Pistons beat the Bucks for their first successive wins of the season.
